ESU trustees won't comment on settlement with ex-staffer

Trustees of East Stroudsburg University and the leadership of its foundation did not comment Friday on revelations that a six-figure settlement had been paid to an ex-employee who reportedly raised questions about financial discrepancies in the university's fundraising department.

Trustees of East Stroudsburg University and the leadership of its foundation did not comment Friday on revelations that a six-figure settlement had been paid to an ex-employee who reportedly raised questions about financial discrepancies in the university's fundraising department.

The Council of Trustees are appointed officials who oversee the university's affairs.

Robert Willever, who was one of the nine trustees whom the Pocono Record tried to reach and also serves as liaison to the foundation board, responded but said it was a personnel issue and that he was unaware of the details.

Efforts to solicit comment from five officers of the board of the private foundation, which raises money on behalf of ESU, were largely unsuccessful. Isaac T. Jamison, vice-chair of the foundation board, and Barth Rubin, its past chair, referred all questions to the university and to counsel. The foundation's lawyer could not be reached.

ESU entered into an agreement with Carolyn O. Bolt, consenting to pay her nearly $140,000 in exchange for a promise that she will not file suit against the university in the future or disclose details of her complaint.

Bolt resigned July 3 as Assistant Vice President for Development after nearly six years at the university. She worked under Isaac W. Sanders, the executive director of the ESU Foundation and vice president for university advancement, who also is under investigation by two state agencies related to allegations of sexual harassment of a student.

Multiple sources confirm that Bolt had raised questions last year to President Robert Dillman about the use and handling of money at the foundation under Sanders and Vincent Dent, who served as ESU's director of major gifts.

The foundation has more than $14 million in total assets, according to its most recent Internal Revenue Service filing.